The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program by the inventor, Robert Edward Lee. The inventor's intention was to develop Rhododendron hybrid plants with tolerance for heat and humidity and fragrant flowers with vibrant colors. This new variety, hereinafter referred to as ‘QBACKB’, was discovered as a seedling, resulting from the crossing of an unnamed, unpatented proprietary seedling, resulting from the open pollination of Rhododendron austrinum with Rhododendron hybrid ‘Gibraltar’ with the pollen parent, Rhododendron hybrid ‘Chectco’, unpatented. The cross was performed during the Spring of 1984, and the new variety selected by the inventor during Spring of 1990 in Folsom, La.
After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor first propagated ‘QBACKB’ by vegetative softwood cuttings during late Spring of 1990 at a commercial nursery in Folsom, La. The inventor continued confidential and controlled testing and propagation, assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety. Multiple generations have been reproduced and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.